Smoking composition



U ied Sla e SMOKING COMPOSITION Joseph Finberg, Chicago, Ill., assiguor to ERR-Tobacco Products Co., Inc., Chicago, 111., a corporation of Illinois No Drawing. Application October 14, 1954 Serial No. 462,389

3 Claims. (Cl. 131-17) The present invention relates generally to improved smoking compositions and more particularly to improved and surrounding the heart. At times, such constriction of the blood vessels around the heart is sufficiently severe to.produce spasms or. irregularmuscular contrac'tions'of the heart. This vase-constriction of the blood vessels is often accompanied by an acceleration of the heart rate and-concomitant rise in systolic and diastolic blood pres sure.

. Another physiological effect produced by the nicotine in tobacco smoke is an increase in gastric acidity in the smoker. This effect is particularly pronounced in persons who are suffering from peptic ulcers.

The inhalation of nicotine in tobacco smoke also, appears to have an aggravating effect on various diseases such as thromboangitis obliterans (Buergers disease), angina pectoris, and other manifestations of coronary artery disease. It appears that the effect of nicotine in tobacco smoke on'these conditions is that of a contributory or aggravating agent rather than as the primary cause ofthese diseases. a

While various attempts havebeen made by tobacco manufacturers to eliminate the amount of nicotine which I would be inhaled by a smoker,-none have proven complet'ely successful. These attempts may be divided into two groups: (1) attempts to extract the nicotine from the tobacco, and (2) attempts to remove the nicotine from the smoke by means of a suitable filter. None of the io-called de-nicotinized tobacco which has been commercially produced has reduced the nicotine content of the tobacco bya sufiicient extent to avoid the harmful efiects of nicotine. Also discouraging is the fact that commercially available filters which do not destroy the taste or The present invention is based upon the knowledge that the harmful effectsofvnicotine-containing tobaccoare due in part to the vaso-constriction uponthe cardiovascu: lap-system. This yaso eonstriction may be counteracted by-.the1,addition of controlled. amounts. of the vitamin niacin (nicotinic acid);pyridine 3-carboxylicacid. When I niacin is effectively assimilated as a vapor in the smoke produced by burning tobacco to which niacin has been added, it has a vaso-dilating action which helps to coun; teract the vaso-constriction of nicotine.

. ;.{dditional beneficial effects-may be obtained wheni the 2 vitamin niacin is combined withrutin (3,3,-4, 5,7- pentaf hydroxyfiavone-3 rutinoside), a compound which is considered effective in reducing and preventing capillary fragility.

Niacin and rutin may also be incorporated in a smoking composition which is made from vegetable materials other than nicotine-containing tobacco and de-nicotinized tobacco. Since such a smoking composition may be completely free of nicotine, the harmful physiological effects which are usually caused by nicotine would, of course,no longer-by produced when the smoking composition was smoked. However, such a smoking composition when smoked may have a beneficial effect on the physiological system of the smoker because of the niacin and rutin 'in the smoking composition. These substances generally cause a dilation of the blood vessels and' reduce or prevent the capillary fragility of the bloodvessels of the smoker with a resultant relaxation of tension and an overall pleasant feeling.

The objects of the present invention are to provide a smoking composition which will not have a vase-constricting effect on a smokers physiological system; toprovide an improved smoking composition which eliminates-most of the harmful effects of ordinary nicotine-containing tobacco products; to provide an improved smoking' com-position from vegetable materials other than nicotine-containing tobacco; to provide an improved smoking composition which has beneficial effects on a smokers'physiological system; to provide an improved smoking composition which is naturally free of nicotine; to provide an improved smoking composition which has a taste, texture and aroma closely resembling that of nicotine-containingtobacco but which produces none of the harmtulfieffects normally caused'iby the nicotine in tobacco; and to pro vide a smoking composition which does not have a vaso constricting effect on the cardio-vascular system of the smoker and which usually reduces or prevents capillary fragility. r

Further. objects and advantages of the invention will become .apparent from the following description of the invention. a

I The mostimportant ingredient in the improved. smoke ing composition is'the vitamin niacin and it has been determined that the minimum amount of niacin required to help achieve the desired effects is about 0.1 percent by weight of the entire smoking composition. The niacin content may be substantially higher than this minimum amount, but inmost cases, the additional cost of the hiacin and the difficulty in introducing large amounts .of niacin intothe smoking composition do not justify the use of such larger amounts. As a practical matter, .the niacin content in substantially all instances. will be within the range of, from about 0.1 to about 2.5 percentby Weight of the entire smoking composition.

Theminimum amount of rutin which shouldv be added to help produce the desired effect is also about 0.1 'pert eut'byrweight of the entire smoking composition, and insubstantially' all instances will'be within the ra'nge of from'about' 0.1' to about 2.5 percent by weight. 'oflthe entire smokingcomposition. v j The inclusioniofthe jstated amountsof niacin has been found to be 'effectivc'regardless of whether the smoking composition cohtains nicotine-containing tobacco or other vgtableproducts.whichare nicotine-free.- --Howe'v" i 'as'much the. nicotinein smokingcompositions 1s un desirable it t's-preferable to employ asthe-major ingredient of the smoking. composition a mixture ofvariouslafy fibers derived from herbsand other types ofnicot-in vegetablev matter. Naturally, suchvegetable matteruseful this smokingv composition should have tablet-texture, appealing .aroma andshould burna acceptable rate.

Particularly effective results have been obtained from the use of a mixture of sage, nasturtium, coltsfoot, and soy fibers. However, in addition to or in place of these four ingredients, fibers from the following vegetable species can be employed:

Beet leaves F atsia iaponica Folia Adonis vernalis Wormwood leaves Vanilla planifolia Verba mate leaves Marrubium vulgare leaves Angelica Zea maize Comfrey Leaves of melilot (yellow) Mallow Trilisa odoratissima x tongue Cyprepedium flower Chestnut Flag lily Eucalyptus Spinach leaves Golden-regen Maple leaves Corn silk Carrot tops Patchouli Caricafolia Rose leaves Sweet elder flower Sapodilla Chamomile leaves Ceriman (Spanish) Sonrsop Guava Cassia fistula Polia Asimina trialba Carthamaus tinctorius containing tobacco.

Paraguay tea leaves I lex paraguensis Aralia spinosa Humulus lupulus Passifloraceae leaves Ethovan or vanirome Althea leaves Ferula' sumbul fibrous material. The casing process consists of spraying an aqueous solution or suspension of flavoring materials, aromatics, sweeteners, coloring agents, additives such as niacin and rutin and humectants onto the fibrous mixture. The'casing process is carried out until the moisture content of the mixture reaches a value of from about 40 to 45 percent.

Following the casing process, the mixed mass is shredded further to produce strands of suitable size for the manufacture of cigarettes. This stranded mixture is then aged or ripened and resprayed to a slight extent with the casing mixture. In the case of pipe tobacco,' the aged mass of stranded material may be pressed into blocks and then sliced into desired sizes.

Atypical casing material useful for the purpose of'the present invention may include the following ingredients:

The following aromatics, flavoring agents, sweeteners, coloring agents, and humectants may be added or'substituted for those in the specific example:

The following specific example illustrates the manner of pr aring the new smoking composition:

Example The vegetable fibers or herbal ingredients (which were previously cured) used in the smoking composition consisted of a mixture of:

Parts by weight Sage 131.25 Nasturtium 350.00 Coltsfoot 87.50 Soy fibers 306.25

The above mixture was placed in a hollow rotating cylinder having tumbling vanes, and the mixturewas tumbled so as to secure a homogeneous mixture. Following the tumbling the mixture was sprayed with a casing material. The particular casing material employed was that given in the previous table, with the indicated proportions by weight in the same units as that given for the vegetable ingredients. The introduction of the casing'material was continued until the moisture content of the mixture reached from about 40 to 45 percent.

The mixed vegetable fibers containing the casing were then shredded and passed into a warm room where the mixture was kept until the moisture content was reduced to approximately 12.5 percent. The mixture was then placed in drums and ripened for a period in excess of four months. When fully ripened, the mixture was spread out and again sprayed with a slight amount of the casing material of the same composition as previously used. The mixture was then ready for making into cigarettes. a

If a pipe mixture is desired, the mixture after ripening may be placed into a press and compressed into blocks or tablets. The blocks are then fed into a slicer where they are cut into slices, each slice con taining an amount suflicient to fill the bowl of an average pipe.

The same general type of procedure is employed when manufacturing cigarettes which include nicotine-containing tobacco leaves except that the amount of niacin is preferably increased in order to compensate for the presence of nicotine in the tobacco.

As previously set forth, the beneficial effects of the niacin may be realized whether or not the vegetable matter in the smoking product contains nicotine. If it does; theni'acinappears to counteract the vaso-constriction caused by' the presence of the nicotine. If the product doesnot contain nicotine, the presence of niacin is nevertheless beneficial'because it may cause the blood vessels'of the smoker to dilate with resultant'relaxation of tension in the smoker. The addition of rutin in the smokingcomposition increases the beneficial properties of the composition since it usually prevents capillary fragility-of. the blood vessels of the smoker.

It will be evident that various modifications can be madein the above described smoking compositions'without departing from the scope of the present invention.

I claim: 1. A smoking composition-comprising a mixture of vegetable fibers, niacin, and rutin, the niacin and'rutin each being present in amounts of at least about 0.1

percent by Weight of said composition.

2. A smoking composition comprising a mixture of nicotine-free vegetable fibers, niacin, and rutin, the amount the niacin and the rutin each being in the vrange of from about 0.1 to 2.5 percent by weight of said composition.

3. A smoking composition comprising a mixture of nicotine-free herb fibers, niacin, and rutin, the amount of the niacin and the rutin each being in the range of 6 References Cited in the file of this'patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 771,355 Daniels Oct. 4, 1904 1,338,089 Nelson Apr. 27, 1920 I 2,000,855 Lippmann et a1. May 7, 1935 2,582,075 Seven Jan. 8, 1952 FOREIGN PATENTS' 234,776 Switzerland Jan. 16, 1946 599,816 Great Britain ..7 Mar. 22,

OTHER REFERENCES Application Serial No. 660,451, filed May 21, 1957.

from about 0.1 to 2.5 percent by weight of said com- 15 y Q P 'E position. 

1. A SMOKING COMPOSITION COMPRISING A MIXTURE OF VEGETABLE FIBERS, NIACIN, AND RUTIN, THE NIACIN AND RUTIN EACH BEING PRESENT IN AMOUNTS OF AT LEAST ABOUT 0.1 PERCENT BY WEIGHT OF SAID COMPOSITION 